Use npm API from system copy of npm

gistfile1.js

function loadNpm(cb) {
  require('child_process').exec('npm', function(err, stdout, stderr) {
    if (err) return cb(err);
    var m = /npm@[^ ]+ (.+)\n/i.exec(stdout);
    if (!m)
      return cb(new Error('Unable to find path in npm help message'));
    cb(undefined, require(m[1]));
  });
}


// usage ...

loadNpm(function(err, npm) {
  if (err) throw err;
  // load() is required before using npm API
  npm.load(function(err, npm) {
    if (err) throw err;
    // e.g. npm.search('ssh', true, function(err, results) { console.dir(results); });
  });
});